Definition of CAFM, IWMS, CMMS – welcome to the jungle

welcome to the jungle of terms…

• Definition of CAFM Wikipedia
• Definition „CAFM“, „CAFM-Software“ and „CAFM-System“ of GEFMA (German Facility Management Association)
• To Excel or Not To Excel…
• More terms like: IWMS, CMMS etc.

Definition of CAFM:

CAFM is defined by German Wikipedia (Edition January 2015) as follows:

„Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) is the support of Facility Managements by information technology via a computer program, which consists of a data base and an application interface. Priority is given to the providing of information about the facilities and the support of the working processes.“(translated content by isar 1)

In the English Wikipedia (Edition January 2015) you can find the following definition:

„Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) is the support of facility management by information technology. The supply of information about the facilities is the center of attention. The tools of the CAFM are called CAFM software, CAFM applications or CAFM Systems.“

However the definition of „CAFM“ by GEFMA-Guideline GEFMA400 reads as follows:

CAFM – GEFMA400 (Edition 2013):

„Thus CAFM  is the implemantation and support of the Facility-Management Concept with the aid of modern information – and communication technology during the complete life cycle of facilities.“ (translated content by isar 1)

In addition to that the definition of CAFM in the GEFMA-guideline 400 is extended to the definition of  CAFM-Software and CAFM-System as follows:

CAFM-Software – GEFMA400 (Edition 2013): „CAFM-Software is an application software which supports Facility Processes during the complete life cycle of facilities extensively. The processing of graphic and alphanumeric data is understood as an indispensable feature as well as a systematic controlling in terms of  Workflow Managements.“ (translated content by isar 1)

CAFM-System – GEFMA400 (Edition 2002):

„The often equally defined terms  CAFM-Software and CAFM-System are differentiated in this guideline to the extent that a CAFM-System represents an individualized (and therfore adjusted to the specific needs of a company or industry) and complete solution to support the processes of Facility Managements.

A CAFM-System can consist of a CAFM-Software, a combination of mono-functional software tools or other standard or individual software and if necessary has to be linked to the commercial software of the company and to the building automation via interfaces.“ (translated content by isar 1) We could extend this list arbitrarily… In the internet you can find almost as many definitions as software providers…. That is the reason why CAFM-projects usually prove to be considerably difficult in the beginning – but at least until common“language“ is established between all people that are involved in the project.